Resilient interconnection arrangement for rails to crossties

ABSTRACT

To provide for resilient interconnection between the holding element, such as a spike, screw connection, bolt or the like of the base of the rail to the crosstie, a bowed spring is interposed between the head of the holding element (spike, bolt, etc.) which has a bowed loop portion essentially surrounding the holding element and a pair of divergent projecting wings, bowed slightly (a few millimeters) with respect to the loop portion and bearing over the base of the tie. The spring may be round or rectangular bar stock, and if rectangular, may be set on edge; the ends of the projecting wings have a reverse bend which bears against the inside of the edge of the shoulder, the loop portion bearing against the top surface of the shoulder of the tie plate.

United atent Baseler [54] RESILIENT INTERCONNECTION ARRANGEMENT FOR RAILS T0 CROSSTIES [72] Inventor: Wolfgang Baseler, Waldstrasse 20, 8031 Stockdorf, Germany [22] Filed: Aug. 11, 1969 [21] Appl.No.: 849,047

Willard Meier ..238/349 FOREIGN PATENTS OR APPLICATIONS 867,298 5/1961 Great Britain ..238/349 Primary ExaminerArthur L. La Point Assistant Examiner-Richard A. Bertsch Attorney-Flynn and Frishauf [57] ABSTRACT To provide for resilient interconnection between the holding element, such as a spike, screw connection, bolt or the like of the base of the rail to the crosstie, a bowed spring is interposed between the head of the holding element (spike, bolt, etc.) which has a bowed loop portion essentially surrounding the holding element and a pair of divergent projecting wings, bowed slightly (a few millimeters) with respect to the loop portion and bearing over the base of the tie. The spring may be round or rectangular bar stock, and if rectangular, may be set on edge; the ends of the projecting wings have a reverse bend which bears against the inside of the edge of the shoulder, the loop portion bearing against the top surface of the shoulder of the tie plate.

8 Claims, 11 Drawing Figures PATENTEUMAR 81972 3540450 SHEET 2 OF 5 FATENTEDFEB 8 I972 SHEET 0 0F 5 RESILIENT INTERCONNECTION ARRANGEMENT IFOIR RAILS TO CROSSTIES The present invention relates to an arrangement to interconnect the rails of railroads to the crossties by using a spring interposed between the holding element, such as a bolt, screw, or spike between the head of the holding element and the top surface of the base of the rail. The present invention is particularly applicable where it is desired to relocate existing railroad trackage and simultaneously provide for a resilient, springy interconnection between the rail and the cross tie.

Resilient interconnections between rails and crossties are preferred over fixed, rigid interconnections. Resilient interconnections must secure the rails to the cross ties with high force, absolute safety and reliability, and must be independent of longitudinal movement of the rails, while progressively exerting greater force on the rails to hold them flat against the crossties against forces tending to tip the rails sideways. Additionally, such springy interconnections must be inexpensive and must not present particular problems in their use and installation, while further being compatible with existing railroad practices, equipment, and hardware.

It has previously been proposed to interpose bowed flat spring elements between the head of a holding element, such as a railroad spike, screw, or bolt; depending on the type of crosstie, be it wood, concrete, or steel, tie plates have been proposed which are formed with ribs or shoulders both to secure and locate the rail in position as well as to serve as an attachment or bearing surface for bowed springs, or other wedged interconnecting plates. The tie plate itself may be omitted in case of concrete, cast crossties, or in case of steel ties, and formed integral with the crosstie itself; in the specification hereafter, reference to the tie plate shall be understood to mean the region beneath the base of the rail, whether the tie plate is a separate element, to be applied separately, for example, to wood crossties, or integral with the crosstie, for example as in preformed cast concrete, or steel ties. The crossties need not extend across both rails, but may be short stumps and serve merely as mounting attachments, securing only a single rail, for example in constructions where a center well is providcd.

SUBJECT MATTER OF THE PRESENT INVENTION Briefly, a spring interconnection is provided between the head of the holding means, such as spike, bolt, or screw connection and the base of the rail itself, the spring being characterized by having a loop portion, bearing on the top surface of the shoulder of the tie plate (separately or integral with the tie), looping around the holding element, and terminating in a pair of laterally projecting, divergent wings, bearing against the top surface of the base of the rail and, with the terminal portions of the wings being formed with a reverse bend which bears against the inside of the shoulder, so that the looped spring element is held securely in position against lateral shifting, while providing a vertically springy interconnection between the tie, the rail, and the holding element. The spring member itself will then be placed, upon deformation, in torsion. Placing a spring in torsion, rather than in compression, or tension, is an efficient and effective utilization of the springy characteristics of the material, having a high volumetric and weight efficiency, and being inexpensive to manufacture.

The invention will be described by way of example with reference to the accompanying drawings, wherein:

FIG. I is a schematic side view of an attachment of a rail to a crosstie, only the tie plate being shown, and the rail being indicated schematically only;

FIG. 2 is a top view of the arrangement in accordance with FIG. 1;

FIG. 3 is a side view illustrating a modification of the arrangement of FIG. 1;

FIG. 4 is a top view of the arrangement of FIG. 3;

FIG. Sis a section along lines V-V of FIG. 6;

FIG. 6 is a top view of another modification;

FIG. 7 is a sectional view along lines VIIVII of FIG. 6;

FIG. 8 is a top view of a modification illustrating a spring with rectangular cross section;

FIG. 9 is a sectional view along lines IX-IX of FIG. 8;

FIG. 10 is a top view of another modification of an embodiment of the present invention;

and FIG. 11 is a cross-sectional view along lines XI-XI of FIG. 10.

The rail 1, shown only in the fragment which is important for an understanding of the present invention, has a projecting base la; base la sits on a tie pad 2 (which may be omitted, and is not necessary for the present invention) and, therebeneath. on a tie plate 3 which, as has been noted above, may be made integral with a crosstie, or may be a separate element. Tie plate 3 has one or more shoulders 3a, formed with an opening or a notch 3b. Shoulders 3a bear against the rail and retain the rail in position. A spring element 4 which, before being mounted, is bowed slightly over its horizontal plane by an amount of a few millimeters, has a bowed loop portion and a pair of projecting reversely bent wing portions 4a. The wing portions 4a thus will be bent, with respect to a centerline of spring 4, by an angle in excess of The spring is bowed upwardly, before being mounted, and when mounted in position (FIGS. 1, 2) is arranged such that the divergent wings 4a bear against the base of the rail la. The springs 4 is retained in position by the holding element for the rail, which may be a bolt 5 with a locating head 50 fitting against the tie plate 3, to be secured to the tie (or the tie plate, respectively). A nut 6, and an intermediate washer or cover plate 7 secures the spring 4 to bolt 5.

Preferably washer 7 overlaps the rail and presses against spring 4 at points 4p above the rail (FIG. 2). Points 4b may be longitudinally aligned with the ends of the wings 4a.

Rather than bolt 5, a screw 8 (FIGS. 10, 1]) may be used, the screw 8 preferably having an enlarged head 8a covering the spring entirely in the portions therebeneath (see FIG. 10) to securely hold the spring. As another alternative, the spring may be secured to the crosstie by means of the well-known spike, preferably also with an intermediate washer, such as washer 7 (FIG. 1).

After the holding element, that is nut 6, or bolt 8, or a spike is secured to the crosstie, or tie plate, respectively, spring 4 will bear at points 311 against the top surface of the tie plate, and in the embodiment shown in FIGS. 1 to 8 against the top surface of the shoulder. Thus, the loop portion of the spring is placed to be in the horizontal plane of the upper surface of the shoulder 30. The spring cannot slide off the base of the rail since the ends of the Wings 40 bear against the inside walls of the shoulder 3a. Thus, so long as the holding elements (bolts and nuts 5, 6; screws 8; or spikes) are in place, the spring is securely held in its proper position, securing the rail. The holding element, itself, does not require any separate arrangement to keep it in position since the pressure of the spring itself, which will be in torsion, does not permit movement of the holding element. In order to further prevent any possibility of lateral deflection of the holding element, spring 4 may be formed with a small kink 4b (FIGS. 5, 6), so that the spring surrounds the holding element at three, or more sides thereof.

As illustrated, spring 4 may be made of various kinds of materials. The spring may be made of circular material (FIGS. I to 7); in accordance with a feature of the invention, the spring may be made to have a rectangular cross section, set on edge, and formed of a flat steel spring member. Such a steel member is particularly easy to fonn into the loop and wing shape (FIGS. 8 to ill) where similar reference numerals are used for similar parts, the spring being indicated by 14, and the spring portions thereof by 14a, 14, respectively. The kink 14b in the back portion of the spring may be formed in such a way that it is slightly pressed downwardly (see FIG. 9) so that this portion of the spring, by slightly fitting into notch 3b in the tie plate is further secured against shift in position, or excessive deformation. The spring in accordance with FIGS. 3, 9, can be secured against sideways tipping by inserting small holding elements; such holding elements may also be advantageous for use with springs made of round bar stock, and

are shown in FIG. 4 at 9, in form of a clip spanning the outer end of the loop portion, which prevents deformation of the loop portion of the spring and locks the spring in position. Spring clips may be applied in various positions, for example (referring to FIG. between the bolt and the web of the rail.

FIGS. 10 and 1] illustrate an attachment in the present invention, in connection with a tie plate having a plurality of ribs and a groove 13b therebetween. The terminal end of the loop, 140, extends in the space between ribs; the shoulder 13a of the tie plate 13 is formed as a narrow rib, and a plurality of similar ribs 13a are provided. The spring bears against rib 13a at point 13d, and against the first rib 13a at point 130.

The present invention has been explained in detail in connection with a rail and crosstie attachment using screw connections, and using a separate tie plate, to be applied to a crosstie; various changes and modifications may be made in accordance with the particular kind of rail, and the particular kind of tie in which the present invention is to be embodied, and without departing from the scope thereof.

I claim; 1. Interconnection arrangement for rails (1) to crossties having a shoulder (3a), comprising means (5,8) holding said rail to said crosstie and adapted to penetrate said crosstie tie and being formed with a head an integral slightly upwardly bowed essentially U-shaped spring (4, 14) formed with a central loop portion and leg portions extending from the loop portion, the loop portion and adjacent leg portions at least partly surrounding said holding means, said loop portion bearing against the top surface of said shoulder on one side and being secured thereagainst by the head of said holding means, the end portions of said leg portions being shaped to form diverging, extending wing portions extending from the loop portion toward and over the rail and being formed with a reverse bend in excess of with respect to the centerline of the U of the central loop portion. the reverse bend being short with respect to the longitudinal extent of the wing portions, the ends of the wing portions bearing on the rails and extending up to the inside edge of the shoulder to prevent excursion of said ends upon tightening of the holding means towards the crosstie to place the spring and the torsion.

2. Arrangement according to claim 1, wherein the loop portion is formed with an inwardly extending kink (FIGS. 5, 6: 4b; FIGS. 8, 9: 14b

3. Arrangement according to claim 2, wherein said inwardly extending kink is ofiset from the plane of the loop portion (FIG. 9).

4. Arrangement according to claim 1, wherein the loop portion of the spring (4) is located closely adjacent the holding means to prevent side slip of the spring with respect to the rail and the holding means.

5. Arrangement according'to claim 10, including a covering washer (7; 8a) between the holding means and the spring, said covering washer extending over the spring at a region where the spring overlies the rail.

6. Arrangement according to claim 1, including a clip (FIG. 4: 9) spanning the loop of the loop portion and preventing deformation thereof.

7. Arrangement according to claim 1 (FIG. 11), wherein the spring is of bar stock material having a rectangular cross section, mounted on edge, and having the longer side of the rectangle essentially parallel to said holding means.

8. Arrangement according to claim 1, wherein the centers of the loop portion and the wing portions are offset with respect to each other by an amount in the order of a few millimeters. 

1. Interconnection arrangement for rails (1) to crossties having a shoulder (3a), comprising means (5,8) holding said rail to said crosstie and adapted to penetrate said crosstie tie and being formed with a head (6, 7; 8a); an integral slightly upwardly bowed essentially U-shaped spring (4, 14) formed with a central loop portion and leg portions extending from the loop portion, the loop portion and adjacent leg portions at least partly surrounding said holding means, said loop portion bearing against the top surface of said shoulder on one side and being secured thereagainst by the head of said holding means, the end portions of said leg portions being shaped to form diverging, extending wing portions extending from the loop portion toward and over the rail and being formed with a reverse bend in excess of 90* wiTh respect to the centerline of the U of the central loop portion, the reverse bend being short with respect to the longitudinal extent of the wing portions, the ends of the wing portions bearing on the rails and extending up to the inside edge of the shoulder to prevent excursion of said ends upon tightening of the holding means towards the crosstie to place the spring and the torsion.
 2. Arrangement according to claim 1, wherein the loop portion is formed with an inwardly extending kink (FIGS. 5, 6: 4b; FIGS. 8, 9: 14b ).
 3. Arrangement according to claim 2, wherein said inwardly extending kink is offset from the plane of the loop portion (FIG. 9).
 4. Arrangement according to claim 1, wherein the loop portion of the spring (4) is located closely adjacent the holding means to prevent side slip of the spring with respect to the rail and the holding means.
 5. Arrangement according to claim 10, including a covering washer (7; 8a) between the holding means and the spring, said covering washer extending over the spring at a region where the spring overlies the rail.
 6. Arrangement according to claim 1, including a clip (FIG. 4: 9) spanning the loop of the loop portion and preventing deformation thereof.
 7. Arrangement according to claim 1 (FIG. 11), wherein the spring is of bar stock material having a rectangular cross section, mounted on edge, and having the longer side of the rectangle essentially parallel to said holding means.
 8. Arrangement according to claim 1, wherein the centers of the loop portion and the wing portions are offset with respect to each other by an amount in the order of a few millimeters. 